


Separation Aches

by Shy_Dragon9991



Category: Naruto, One Piece
Genre: Aching heart, Crying, Doubt, First Promising Sneak Peek, Friend-zoned Marco, Helpful Marco, Jealous Marco, M/M, Missing lover, Much needed friend talk, Sassy birb, Separation, Sneak Peek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-14 18:45:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11789196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shy_Dragon9991/pseuds/Shy_Dragon9991
Summary: Ace wonders just when his partner will come back to him after such a lengthy separation -or if he'll even come back at all...





	Separation Aches

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rbook](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rbook/gifts).



> A little thing that isn't connected to Lovely Chaos, but rather an up-and-coming fic featuring a NaruAce pairing. There is no genderbending involved nor will there ever be, meaning both Naruto and Ace are MALE and will stay as such. If that isn't your schtick then both this and the future fic aren't for you.
> 
> I will sink with this ship...
> 
> For my dear Friendo who has been patiently waiting for so long!~

How? How can a single person be so oblivious yet so observant at the same time?

This was the thought of one dark-haired young man sitting in the highest crow's nest of the Moby Dick. It was centered around his first mate, and lover, a blond man he'd met back in his home sea of East Blue. Naruto. They had come far together, sailing around the entirety of the weakest sea with only themselves for company before entering the Grandline and gaining another crewmember.

They had promised to help each other. Ace would provide him with a way to journey in finding a way home while Naruto would be his first mate, aiding and supporting him in his goal to take Whitebeard's head. It didn't turn out that way though... Ace hadn't expected to share so much... or let him get so close... or feel so safe and warm inside when beside him... or feel so hurt when they finally split after a year and a half spent nearly glued to each other's hips both figuratively and literally. He felt... empty, lonely despite the efforts of his other crewmates and the man he would like to call father.

It had been at least a month and a half since they'd last seen each other. Five days went by after Naruto went off to investigate a rumor that could lead him back to his old home before Ace and the rest of the Spades ran into Jimbei. Five more days passed as the fire man and Jimbei fought until the latter fell from exhaustion and the Whitebeards showed up for his challenge. A week was quickly wasted with him bedridden in a coma and separated from his crew. Another three weeks were quickly spent trying to kill Whitebeard and getting thrown overboard as easily as if he was a newborn kitten. Then, after talking with Marco and finally giving up on killing the old man, the last week had been spent with an ever present feeling of longing for the person that wasn't at his side.

Now he sat at the highest point of one of the largest ships in the world, the wind biting his cheeks and muffling the voices of new and old companions. His hair was whipping everywhere and the sheer drop under the sturdy wood beneath his feet filled him with nostalgia, but he paid no attention to either while he fiddled with the item on his ring finger. A simple, shiny golden band with a single garnet stone, it was a source of both comfort and pain as he repeatedly pulled it off and pushed it back on. It bore the etchings of symbols that he had no clue how to read on the inside, though he knew they were the source of its function. The ring, in spite of his body heat and the fact he hadn't ever taken it off until now, didn't share his temperature and was much -much- colder instead. The closer the identical ring on Naruto's person got, the warmer they'd be, but, right now, the little band was ice cold...

Naruto was still very far away from him... Maybe even back in his home dimension...

Ace clutched at the fabric of his shirt, the pain in his chest growing and blocking his throat. He rubbed at his eyes when he felt the tell-tale burn of tears, not wanting the little droplets to fall. He wasn't Luffy and he refused to take his little brother's title of "Crybaby." However, even when he took slow breaths to get control over his breathing before he started sniffling, hiccuping sobs were already wracking his frame.

It hurt... The absence of his other half hurt so badly. The blond had courted him, hadn't he? Taken him out to have time to themselves and bare each other's weaknesses? That's what dating was, right? Getting to know one another and providing unconditional support? ...Naruto knew about Ace's father, had since they stopped in Loguetown, and hadn't ever looked at him with disgust. Ace knew about his past and had met the Bijuu Naruto had been spurned for himself, but couldn't bring himself to care beyond the fact Kurama was his lover's nakama and his own by extension. Those were their greatest secrets... Weren't they? Or did Naruto hold his back? Ace didn't think so... the blond wasn't all that fond of lying even if he was extremely good at it some times.

The freckled man sat down inside the crow's nest hugging his knees. It wasn't fair... It wasn't fair! Why was he the one that always had someone taken away from him? Why? Was it his fault? Did he do or say something wrong? Did Naruto not want him anymore? Ace wouldn't hold that against him if he did. He chased away people often, sometimes without even trying. No! No, Naruto had promised that they'd get married, that's what the promise ring on his finger symbolized! Why else would Naruto want to be able to find him whenever they separated? Naruto had to come back... He had never broken a promise before! Why would he go back on his word now when he hadn't ever done so before?

Starting to calm down, the sniffles and sobbing lessened to soft hiccups as Ace pulled himself together. He wiped away any remnants of tears then, glancing once more to the ring on his left hand. He pulled it off one last time in thought before holding it up in the sunshine that was a poor substitute for the presence of his life partner. The light bounced off it beautifully though it highlighted all the scratches it had received in fights long since passed.

"Really pretty ring. You mind if I ask where you got it?" a calm voice drawled from behind him.

Ace screamed in surprise, fumbling the ring before clutching it close to his chest and turning to face his imprompt visitor. It was Marco, perched on the railing of the crow's nest with blue flames dispersing around his arms.

"Don't do that!" Ace yelled before turning back and grumbling with a pout, "And it's none of your business..."

"I make it my business when family members -new or old- are bawling their eyes out..." the older man stepped down into the wooden structure and sat down beside him.

Ace growled at him, "I was not!"

The blond raised a thin eyebrow, "Oh? I suppose those tear tracks on your face just magically appeared then?"

"Shut up!" the younger man yelled, rubbing at his face again, stubbornly looking away from him.

"Will you tell me if I do?"

Ace looked back at him, taking in his serious face before speaking, "Promise not to laugh?"

"You have my word," the blond nodded, looking him in the eye.

"Well, you noticed that one of my crew was missing, right?" Ace turned away from the other again, feeling uncomfortable with so much attention when it wasn't his first mate giving it.

"I did. The blond with whiskers was and still is missing..."

"His name is Naruto and he's my first mate..." Ace fidgeted with the ring some more, "He's been with me since the very beginning, you know. This is the first time we've separated in over a year and a half."

Marco hummed, "It's not all that uncommon for a captain and a first mate to be close. Pops and I have been together for a long time..."

"Romantically though?" Ace snickered, grinning.

Marco coughed, flustered, "No! Nothing like that! As Father and Son!"

Ace laughed, feeling a bit better now, "I know, I just had to give you shit. Though, I gotta say, it did sound suspicious."

"Oh, shut it, you know exactly what I meant!" Damn brat, nearly giving him a heartattack with those words!

Snickers flowed through fingers clasped around Ace's mouth as he tried to stifle his laughs. He giggled for a short while longer before finally catching his lost breath. To Marco, it was one of the most beautiful sounds he'd ever heard. The younger's laughter was childish and light in every sense. He wanted to hear more of it, even if he was the one the raven was laughing at.

The dark-haired man admired the ring in his hands sadly then, "Naruto and I were -are- a couple. He gave this ring to me as a promise to marry me someday...but I don't know if he's going to come back or not. I... I have faith that he will, but, sometimes, faith just isn't enough. Sometimes I can't help but worry I drove him away. I did say some... potentially hurtful things to him before he left..."

The feeling of disappointment ran through the blond. Ace was already taken, spoken for by someone else and very much in love with said person. Jealousy chased after the disappointment and twisted a terrible knot in his stomach, though it was ignored when Ace's dark brown eyes caught his.

Marco was quiet as Ace spoke and for a few moments after his words dropped off, but spoke once he gathered his thoughts, "Some fighting is all part of a relationship, even if it may not seem like it. It reminds the couple that, even if they agree on most things, they are still separate people with varying ideas, opinions, and desires. Now, from the sound of it, you two had your very first major arguement since becoming a couple. After seeing so much, I have to say that it's natural for the two of you to take a breath of fresh air without the other. However, going so long without seeing each other is taxing in itself. Feeling what you're feeling right now is expected after being together for so long only to be apart for far longer than you're accustomed to. If he gave you that ring, with as serious a promise as marriage, then he's no doubt racing to catch up to you. If he's not, well, then he's a moron."

Ace looked at him in surprise before bursting into giggles, "Knowing him and his luck, he's either stuck on the slowest moving boat ever or some other big-named person is dragging him into drinking contests whenever they can to try and beat him. I can't even tell you how many times both things have happened! Who knows, maybe he'll show up accompanied by Shanks!"

"I hope not, Red-haired is a pain," the blond man grumbled, though his lip twitched up into a smile at the other's giggles.

Marco most certainly did not want to see that man any time soon! He got enough of a headache between paperwork and the shenanigans of his brothers.

Ace smiled in amusement, the younger man shifting a bit closer to the other and leaning on his shoulder, "Really? How?"

"Every damn time we meet, he asks me to join his crew knowing full well that I'd never leave Pops... It's annoying beyond belief." the zoan fruit user huffed irritably.

Snickers flowed from Ace like water from a faucet, "You really don't like him, do you?"

Marco snorted, not an iota of hesitancy in his tone, "Not in the least."

Comfortable silence reigned over the two for a while before Ace slid his ring back on his hand and whispered, "Thanks, Marco, I really needed that."

The older man simply hummed and smiled, "No problem, kid. Anytime..."

"I really miss him, but I know he wouldn't want me to mope like this. He'll find me, I know he will, he always does," Ace smiled widely at Marco, "Say, are all first mates so capable in cheering people up? Naruto was good at it too..."

"Probably not, but it's highly called for because we're in charge when the captain is occupied and that includes keeping up morale," the blond shrugged easily.

"Well, either way, I like you! You're a pretty damn awesome friend!" Ace pulled himself up to stand and began descending from the crow's nest.

"You too, kid, you too..." Marco called out after him, standing up yet not following.

As he stood there, he couldn't help but feel that the fiery captain's missing first mate had everything good going for him.


End file.
